Monday, October 13, 2008

clothes swap party idea

all photos by stephanie

stephanie of even*cleveland has been hosting clothes swap parties, which of course makes me wish i lived in cleveland so i could participate. from handmade invites to tasty snacks and a boutique display sensibility, even if you came away empty handed, it would still make for a lovely party. on this blah holiday monday (i'm stuck in my basement library carrel...), thoughts turn to neglected and unloved clothing in my own closet and a need to throw a party.

22 comments:

This is so exciting! I've been continually cleaning out my closet and talking about hosting a clothing swap for months! The only problem is that no one I know wears the same clothing that I do ... it will be a good deal for my friends though.

Erica, if you ever have a clothes swap party I am going to have to hitchhike from Cleveland to crash it! Given your impeccable taste, I would be dying of curiosity to see what comes out of your closet.

(PS - I have always thought it would be fun to do for kid/baby clothes, too, considering that they grow out of things so fast.)

I attended a clotheswap in DC and it was great fun, although unfortunately no one at the party was my size in pants and skirts (sigh). Accessories and cosmetic samples were a big hit. It saved a lot of trips to goodwill and I was happy to see some of my nicer pieces go to friends. You should definitely do this...but could you wait until November?!

Sounds like a great idea, but as leanne said, I guess the hard part is having enough friends with similar taste. (especially among grad students, I almost feel guilty even talking about nice clothings). i guess it shouldn't be limited to like-minded fellows,and it could be fun to swap with people with different taste, but the kind of clothings you select are very special and well made.

an online swap using Picasa or something would be nice too but I guess it is important to be able to try the clothings on at the spot.

Erica - on a separate note, I'm coming up to Boston for HOCR this weekend and am going to check out Stel's because I like everything that you find there. Do you have any other suggestions for places that I should visit? Thanks!

leanne-ooh, thanks for reminding me about the HOCR. every year i miss it, and this saturday it looks like we're going to nyc so matthew can photograph a site for his studio.

a few other shops on newbury: dress has vanessa bruno and a few lyell pieces (much more feminine selection than stels). barneys is ok, sometimes, and louis boston if you want to look at more marni than you thought existed. charles st. is always nice for a stroll, my favorite store there is called 'good' (no clothes, but pretty home goods and jewelry).

nanashi--i've also wondered whether an online clothing swap would work. i have a few things that i hold onto because i spent quite a bit of money on them (maria cornejo, apc, etc.), but don't want to sell on ebay. i agree that it's hard finding people with similar tastes. i need to go through my closet and consider my options for both swaps and blog giveaways...maybe it'll have to wait until november...

it's a great idea. i would only do it if i gave myself the rule that i could only pick up one new (to me) item in exchange for giving up like 4 or 6 things, because the whole reason i do a clear out of my closet is to reduce, so there would be no point in taking out 10 things and bringing in 10, or, worse yet, taking out 2 and bringing in 4. ack!

I'd love to do some kind of online swap. All my friends who are my size are on the west coast and one is pregnant so I have some pieces that just aren't me in my closet. Like you, Erica, I spent too much on them to throw them out and, looking at Ebay, it seems that nobody is buying right now.

i agree, ebay is not exactly the best way to go right now. i hate spending so much money only to give it away to red cross.

i'm planning an in-person clothing swap for november, but there are certain pieces that i think could only be appreciated by my online friends. maybe i should start another blog where people can upload photos of clothing and accessories and see if there are any takers. the hard part is when there's more than one person who wants to take it off your hands. how do you decide? first come, first serve? random drawing?

i know, i know, i don't have any time at all!! i'm grading short visual analysis papers right now, and it's pretty brutal. physically, i'm running myself ragged. i wonder if i could outsource the blog planning to matthew. because you know, architecture students have tons of free time!

i need to go through my closets first and see if i even have anything that's worth giving away.

Yes--it's insane as I have two writing intensive classes and am in the full throes of their midterms--as you say, it is brutal. Plus I had to give a talk in North Carolina last week and I am trying to get the book completed by the middle of November. I may even make that deadline. If I do, I think I might reward myself with a dress. The persimmon and the pale gray ones from Mayle's holiday collection really appeal to me but I think I should wait for the sale.

I live in Brooklyn NY, and have been attending clothing swaps for a few years now. They are so much fun! My first one, I thought we would just throw the clothes onto a huge pile in the middle of the room, and someone would say "ready set go!" But no.. each person took a turn standing in front of the group and hold up each piece (of well chosen) clothing they had brought, and...tell a little story about that item. ie "this was a gift from my mother-in-law, hoping to make me into her likeness", by the end of the evening we laughed, cried and bonded.